When was the last time an US politician tried to lead public opinion instead of slavishly following it?
The candidate whose support is slightly less apathetic will be elected in November and we'll get another raft of "ground-breaking" legislation which won't accomplish much. Legislation can't accomplish much, because change doesn't come from laws. Laws come from change.
Taiwan's future changed radically two and a half weeks ago. Yet no laws were passed. In fact, the election didn't change anything; it was simply a "codification" of changes that have been developing here for years.
After being burned by the KMT's "black gold" politics, spurned by China's diplomatic isolation, left dangling in uncertainty by the US and divided by internal racial and ethnic strife, they've begun converging on a unifying "New Taiwanese" ideal.
Twenty years ago, the KMT was busily crushing any form of Taiwanese identity. Now it's unstoppable, and on March 18 this "New Taiwanese" identity found a voice in the voting booth.
Until we Americans can learn, as the Taiwanese have, to change the way we think about ourselves and our government, we'll be stuck with the same "donkey-and-elephant show," over and over again, ad-nauseum.
I can't help thinking Thomas Jefferson would rather be in Taiwan right now.
John Diedrichs is the New Media Editor at the Taipei Times; he plans to vote by absentee ballot in November.
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